Lonely Souls
by mistymage
Summary: The gods made a mistake. A pair, soulmates, separated by time, species and dimension, living life without each other. Without knowing the love they could share. What happens when one transverses the bounderies and unknownly meets her soulmate? You'll see.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own Kung Fu Panda. I only own the movie and Marie. That is it. XD The story idea came to me while I was sick. I wasn't sleeping too well, and got maybe two hours of sleep when I had a weird dream that I was in their world and met Shifu. I woke up from my delirious sleep and thought of doing a fanfiction. So here it is! In the future I may redo this chapter since I was really sick while doing it, but for now it will go up the way it is.

**Chapter One**

The day started out like any normal day at the college campus. Students rushing to or from class, some taking a break to have a quick lunch or snack, and even doing their homework in the library. Except Marie, who was hiding out in the corner of the student's lounge area with her laptop in her lap, watching Kung Fu Panda for the thousandth time. She had already finished her homework for her classes that day, and was simply waiting for her pottery class later on in the evening. The class wouldn't start for a few hours still, and if she really had wanted to she could have gone home for those few hours then come back. However she stayed so to save gas for her little old car, and she figured she could watch a movie on her laptop to pass the time.

Marie was so absorbed in her movie that she didn't see her best friend sneaking up on her, not even when she was inches from Marie's ear.

"Hey, Marie!" Marie's eyed widened as she jumped, her head whipping around to face her overly cheerful friend, her hand reaching up to clutch at her heart.

"God Trisha, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" Marie asked, terribly startled by her friends sudden appearance. Trisha has been her best friend since high school; she was the one that kept Marie sane during the horrible teasing and the bullying there. Trisha was everything Marie wasn't in her opinion, a beautiful, popular girl with long dark hair and pretty hazel eyes.

Trisha, noticing Marie's attention starting to waver lightly tapped her on the head to grab her attention. "You know I have to give you a good scare every now and then!" Trisha paused to look at Marie's laptop screen, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Watching that movie AGAIN? I've never seen you so obsessed with a movie before! I mean yeah, I like the movie too and don't mind watching it, but you watch it constantly over and over again."

Marie was unable to stop the sheepish smile from coming across her face as she stopped the movie and shut her laptop down, a bit embarrassed that Trisha claimed her to be obsessed, which is mostly true. "I can't help it, I just love the characters! I think Master Shifu is the best though." She releases a soft giggle at the look Trisha gives her, half exasperation and half amusement. "What can I say?" Marie began, putting her laptop away in her backpack, suddenly remembering the promise she made to Trisha to help her with her homework today. "It's the ears." Trisha startes to laugh, throwing her arm over Marie's shoulder when she stands as they make their way out of the lounge area towards the library.

"You're impossible!" Trisha teases gently, insistently tugging Marie to move faster, wanting to get to the library as fast as possible. "Anyway, getting away from the subject of imaginary characters, you wouldn't believe the romantic restaurant my boyfriend took me to last night, I was so shocked-" As Trisha started to ramble on about her perfect date Marie was only half-listening, smiling and nodding at the right times, and even saying 'Oh wow!' It wasn't that Marie wasn't happy for Trisha, she was glad her best friend found a decent boyfriend.

It was just whenever Trisha started to talk about dating a feeling of loneliness pierced her heart. While Trisha had a few boyfriends during her high school years, Marie had none. No one ever asked her out, or gave her a second glance as they passed her, or even tried to get to know her. Marie didn't consider herself ugly, but she didn't consider herself attractive either, just in between. Marie had extremely short sandy brown hair, kind of a pixie style, short enough for her to spike and style it anyway she chose to. A few girls had suggested a few times that maybe if she grew her hair out maybe guys would start to ask her out.

Marie refused.

If a guy can't accept her for who she was then he's obviously not the right guy for her. She was not going to change herself to impress people, it wasn't her way. She could have maybe become popular if she took the advice of the snobby popular girls by growing her hair out and become impossibly skinny, but she didn't. She liked herself the way she was, even if others didn't. She doesn't have the gorgeous features like Trisha and other pretty girls did, but she liked her features well enough. What she really liked about herself though was her eyes. Her eyes are grey-blue in color, mostly grey then blue, but if you were to look in her eyes you would see she had flecks of brown hiding among the grey.

Marie had thought that maybe once she got into college maybe the guys would have grown up a little and try to see past her average features and see her personality, but so far no one has stopped to talk to her or get to know her. She finally shook her head to discourage her depressing thoughts to focus on what Trisha was saying, still rambling on, though a bit more quietly now that they have reached the enormous library.

"-I actually think that he may be my soul mate, Marie! I have never felt this way before with any of the other guys before. I feel… whole, complete. Whenever I'm near him my heart races, and when he's not around my heart aches." They sat at the table nearest to the large windows, the view overlooking a large pond at the back of the college. As Trisha pulled out her math book she turned to look at Marie who was beside her, watching her pull out her own math book to use it as a reference to help Trisha with her homework. "Do you believe that there's a soul mate for everyone out there somewhere?" Trisha asked curiously as she opened up her book, wanting to hear Marie's answer.

Marie blinked at her friend, taken aback by the odd question. Did she believe in soul mates? She honestly asked herself, leaning back into her chair as she pondered the question. Instead of thinking she decided to listen to her feelings, trying to pull the answer from her heart and soul. Without even thinking, she answered. "Yes," Marie started, surprised at how strongly she felt about her answer. "I do believe that there is someone out there for everyone. There has to be, or else I don't think there would be happiness in the world."

Trisha smiled at her friend, satisfied with her answer before she turned to her book. "Now I was having trouble with this section, the way the book explains it confuses me…" The next two hours Marie helped Trisha work on math problems by retelling what the book had told her, but differently worded and did example problems to help her overcome what she had difficulties in. After Marie had helped Trisha she ended the lesson and headed to her pottery class, which lasted for another hour before she was finally able to leave. After making sure she had everything with her she headed out onto the college parking lot, the skies extremely dark since it was close to ten in the evening.

Marie was a tad tired, irritably rubbing her face as she unlocked her 1993 Mercury Topaz and got in, throwing her bag in the back before buckling up and starting her car. For a moment or two she rested her forehead against the wheel, closing her eyes and she focused on her breathing only. Her mind returned to the conversation she had with Trisha, loneliness creeping up in her heart once again, causing her to shudder at how empty she felt. Soul mates… Did she really even have one? She did believe that there had to be someone out there for everyone, but she couldn't help but wonder…

Maybe she was destined to not have one. She tried to scold herself when that thought entered her head. She was only twenty years old, there was still time in her life that she may come across her soul mate, someone that will love her for who she is. It just may take some time to come across the one who completed her. Marie turned her attention to the night sky through her windshield, looking at the many stars that dotted the sky. As she stared at the sky a sudden flash of light that streaked the sky caught her attention, and a memory surfaced and tickled the back of her mind.

_*****Flash Back*****_

_Marie was sitting outside with her Grandfather many years ago when she was around eight years old, watching a meteorite shower around three in the morning. Marie was wide awake, watching the skies excitably as the pretty light continued to streak the sky._

"_It's so pretty, it's like watching falling stars!" Marie turned and smiled widely at him, her eyes expressing showing how much she loved watching the night sky light up. Her Grandfather turned and smiled kindly at her, lightly ruffling her hair. He was a tall and slightly heavy set man, but he was a kind, gentle man that anyone would like to call a friend._

"_They are like falling stars, hun. They even have the same special power as falling stars you know." Her Grandfather chuckled when Marie gave him a questioning look._

"_What do you mean, Grandpa?" She eagerly questioned him, her curiosity getting the best of her._

"_What, you don't know? Honestly, I thought that daughter of mine would have told you about it. Shame on her." He laughed softly, turning back to the night sky. "They say that if you wish on a falling star, that the universe will grant those who deserve it their wish. I always found it a comforting thought when I was your age."_

"_Wow, really?! If you wish on a falling star your wish may come true?!" Marie started to think about the toys she could wish for, starting to smile widely at the thought of maybe getting the dollhouse she wanted. Her Grandfather seemed to know what she was thinking and lightly tapped her shoulder in order to gain her attention._

"_Yes, it is true. But it has to be a wish that you have wanted to come true for a long time, so it can't be about wanting a certain toy. It has to be a special wish, so don't waste on something as silly as toys when you know your Grandpa will get them for you. So promise me you will make a wish that is really something important, something your heart and soul really wants."_

_Marie smiled at her Grandpa, and while she didn't understand everything he said at the time she agreed anyways. "Ok Grandpa, I promise I will only wish for important things!"_

_*****End Flash Back*****_

Marie blinked as she came out of her trance, watching the falling star continue to streak across the sky until it disappeared over the horizon. Encouraged by the memory of her Grandpa she decided to do be silly and actually make a wish.

"I wish," She started, her heart fluttering oddly in her chest as she stared at the sky. "I wish to find someone to love me for who I really am. Someone to hold me gently, to kiss me, to tell me they love me. I want someone to complete me, my soul mate that I'm destined to be with. It doesn't have to be now, but someday, please let me meet him. Please." As her wish ended her voice had taken a bit of a desperate tone to it, clutching the steering wheel tightly as she tried to reign in her emotions.

She felt extremely foolish suddenly. Wish upon a star and your dreams may come true? It was only a fairy tale, something to tell little children so that they had something to hope for. She was twenty, not seven, not a little girl, but an adult that has felt her share of disappointments. After sitting there for a few more minutes she finally pulled the car out of the parking lot and started the long drive home, only taking the back roads to avoid hitting the construction on the highway. She spent the first few minutes in silence in the car as she carefully weaved through the country roads, keeping an eye out for deer that like to pop out on the road.

Finally she turned on her CD player, watching the roads as her disc player randomly chose a song from the disc already loaded into it. Techno music started to play and Marie visibly winced, wondering if it was fate messing with her by choosing this song to play first.

'**You are my light in the dark**

**You are the beating in my heart**

**That is not enough, will I ever be by your side?'**

Marie grimaced as she looked down at her CD player and pressed the next button, turning her attention back on the road. Suddenly movement on the right side of the road caught her eye before something suddenly darted across the road. A deer, Marie realized as she felt fear pulse through her entire body. She stomped on the brakes and swerved the car towards to avoid hitting the deer, the screeching of the brakes filling her ears before she felt the car go air born, heading down a steep hill towards a bunch of trees.

She felt the car first crash to the ground, landing on its side and rolling over several times, the world only a blur around her as her belongings inside her car flew around her. A horrible, loud crunch echoed in her ears as her car slammed into the trees, glass shattering all around her.

She found herself slumped against the seat, wondering what had happened as her dazed mind tried to catch up with what happened. Her airbag didn't employ, was her first thought as she blearily stared at the steering wheel, her seatbelt the only thing saving her from bashing her nose in onto the steering wheel. Her head was pounding and something warm was trickling down the side of her head as she shakily reached up to touch her head and pull her fingers away.

Blood.

Blood was pouring from the side of her head, her pounding head and the blood trickling down her face making it hard for her to think. She managed to unbuckle her seat belt, the task itself hard as she found it nearly impossible to focus on anything. She tried to open her door but see's that her door is blocked by a tree. She turned to look at the other door, only to find that door was also blocked by a tree. Her front end was also crushed by a tree, and while the front window was broken she couldn't climb through it since the tree and the crumbled up hood blocked that way also.

Marie whimpered softly in fear at the thought of being stuck in her car, helpless to get herself out. She tried to reign in her terror as she turned to look towards the back of her car, and she's unable to stop the sob of relief that escapes her throat. The back window was smashed up like the others, but there was no tree blocking her way out.

She pulled herself out of her seat and started the painstaking task of trying to crawl her way out towards the back, unable to avoid the pieces of the smashed windows as they dug painfully into her hands, but didn't cut her. She finally managed to pull herself through the back window and across the back of her trunk, slipping off of the car and onto the hard, unforgiving ground. Marie laid there on the ground for a long time, concentrating on breathing and calming down her racing heart until she was able to flip over onto her back, her eyes half-way closed as she watched the night sky. Her entire body ached and her head pounded, blood still trickling down the side of her face.

She felt light-headed and sleepy, warnings popping up in the back of her mind that she barely registered, warning for her to not fall asleep, that she may have a concussion. She didn't care though, she was just so sleepy… As her eyes started to drift closed a strange light was suddenly above her, glowing and twinkling as it shifted above her. Was she dying was her last question before she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing she was aware of was her body becoming really light, and then… Nothing.

A/N: Ok, so there wasn't too much Kung Fu Panda in the first chapter, I'm sorry! D:!! I had to introduce the character, and think of how she would end up in their universe. I do plan on the couple Shifu/Marie, since there are not that many fanfictions with Shifu coupled with someone. Now please be nice to me, this is my first actual fanfic, and I'm really nervous about posting it on . I wouldn't mind reviews, just no flames please. I'll try to keep posting whether or not I get reviews. Oh, and the small song quote is called 'Angel in the Night' by Basshunter.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not own Kung Fu Panda or any of the characters. Just Marie, my character.

**Chapter Two**

Marie wasn't sure how long she was sleeping when she slowly started to come to, her body feeling extremely heavy and achy. It was like she had a really bad cold that put her out of commission for days on end. For several minutes she just lies there, struggling to open her eyes. What happened to her she wasn't sure, her thoughts muddled and confused, her head slightly pounding for some reason unknown to her. She finally forced her eyes open, wincing a bit when bright light hits her eyes, groggily moving her hand up to shield her eyes as she slowly sat up. She closed her eyes as she cradles her head in her hands, rubbing her forehead as she tried to clear her head. She runs her fingers through her hair, her hand pausing when she touches a piece of cloth wrapped around her head.

It then hits Marie like a ton of bricks, the deer, the crash, her head bleeding, and then blackness. She gasps sharply, her eyes snapping open as she takes in her surroundings. Instead of perhaps finding herself in a hospital, or even lying by her car, she finds herself surrounded by bamboo. She sits there stupidly for several moments, blinking at the bamboo like forest all around her. "Bamboo…?" She murmurs softly to herself, looking up to see a bit of sky and light filtering in from the top of the bamboo forest. A soft sound of trickling water catches her attention, and she suddenly realizes how thirsty she is, her throat horrible dry that causes her to start coughing.

She pulls herself to her feet, stumbling a bit when the world suddenly spins all around her, before she manages to steady herself against some bamboo. With a soft groan she starts to slowly make her way towards the sound of the running water, the sound gradually growing louder as she walked. She finally finds herself by a small brook, falling to her knees and dipping her hands into the ice cold water, cupping her hands and taking a small sip of water. The water tasted crystal clear and clean, and that only encourages her to drink more of the water to satisfy her thirst.

Marie breathes a soft sigh of relief as she dries her hands against her jeans, looking down at the water as she tries to gather her thoughts. She reaches up to touch her bandage head, frowning softly to herself as she examines her reflection in the water. Someone had taken the time to clean her face, wound, and bandage her up, but not take her to the hospital? And… drop her off in the middle of a bamboo forest?

Her brow furrows a bit in confusion, biting down on her lower lip as she tries to think what could have happened to her. Every possibility and every scenario she comes up with hits a dead end and she ends up concluding that, for now, it will have to remain a mystery. She knew one thing for sure: she didn't think there were any bamboo forests in America. She shakily gets to her feet and starts to walk, following the brook down the hill. Marie wanted to stick near the brook, hoping that maybe the brook became a river, and the river might lead to some sort of civilization. She knew there were many flaws to this plan, but it was the only plan she could think of.

As Marie continued her little walk she has time to observe her surroundings, taken aback at how much bamboo surrounds her, along with trees and plants she's never seen before. She notices how clean the air feels and smells like, like pollution has never touched this place. It's like she was dropped off in the middle of a forest in China or Japan even. If she was in either of those places, then how did she get there? Would someone actually find her on the side of the road, and go 'Hey, lets mess with her! We'll put her on a plane and ship her to China/Japan, and dump her in the wilderness before she wakes up, it would make great TV!' It just didn't make any sense to her.

She didn't walk very long, maybe only fifteen minutes when she see's a small clearing ahead, the small brook filtering into a small pond. The ground around the pond is made of grey brick, which makes Marie smile happily as she darts forward to the clearing, her feet hitting the brick covered ground. What she see's next stuns her, standing completely still as she looks around. It was like she was transported back into ancient China, a Chinese pavilion in the middle of what she could call a garden: flowers, trees, and plants neatly placed around the area. Further on over a wall separating the area from the next she could see an extremely large building at the top of a hill, so huge that it had to be like a palace!

It oddly looked like the Jade Palace…

She scoffed at the thought. It had to be a coincidence, it was probably just an old building that was kept up really well, that's all! But still, this made her wonder if she really was shipped off to China somehow… She can only hope she would come across someone and have them tell her where she was, and maybe where she can find the nearest phone. Problem was, she didn't speak Chinese, and so if she really was in China, she might be in trouble, especially since she could very well be trespassing.

Lovely.

She started to move forward towards the pavilion, pausing to look at the numerous flowering bushes around it. The flowers were a beautiful red, but they were the strangest flowers she has ever seen before. She took a cautious sniff before smiling a bit; the scent was pleasantly sweet, almost like a mixture of honey and a light smell of rose. Suddenly Marie heard a startled squawk to her left, causing her to whirl around to look towards the sound. Her eyes widened and her entire body stiffened in surprise at the sight before her, her breath freezing in her chest.

Before her was a grey goose. What was most odd though was that it wore clothes. Bright yellow, traditional Chinese clothes with a little hat on top of it's head. Don't panic she was thinking, it's just an abnormally tall goose that someone put clothes on, it's no big deal. However, she noticed in his wing, curled like a fist, was a container of what looked like gardening tools. No goose that she knew of could carry tools that way.

She and the goose stared each other down, both of their expressions showing how frightened they were of each other. Suddenly the goose released a loud, terrified yell that caused her to scream out of reflex, the goose dropping the tools and taking off to the sky. "Master Shifuuuuuuuuuuu!" He screamed as he flew towards the palace, leaving several feathers behind in his fright. Marie stared back after him with wide eyes as he franticly flew as fast as he can.

He talked… The goose that she had thought was just a normal animal, talked. It suddenly dawned on her who he really was, remembering the goose from the movie, called Xhen, the messenger goose for Shifu. Suddenly it felt like her blood became like ice, terror and uncertainty gripping at her with its claws. If that was really Xhen, then… Then that means she's in a world not her own, which means there are no humans around. No one she could turn to she thought with dread. Suddenly what the goose said registered in her mind, causing her to gasp and take several steps back.

He was calling for Master Shifu, which means that if they found her a serious threat, he, the Furious Five, and Po would track her down, and maybe hurt her. Panic gripped her as she turned and ran, not knowing where she was going or what she would do, and only one thought entered her head as she fled. –_Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.- _

*****At the Jade Palace*****

It's been around four months since the defeat of Tai Lung, and Master Shifu was feeling more at peace then he had been in years. Po had helped him more then he knew, releasing the weight of guilt that Shifu carried on his shoulders. Shifu opened up to his students more then he ever had, which was a relief to everyone. He would openly compliment them, and treated them like they were his own children, carefully guiding them as they continued their training in Kung Fu. Po over the course of the months had improved greatly with the help of the Furious Five, but he would still have his clumsy moments now and then, which caused the others to laugh openly at him and help lighten the atmosphere.

Shifu chuckled softly to himself as he watched his students at it in the training grounds, training in their own arts and helping each other out with their weaknesses. Po was balancing on the jade turtle, trying to fend off the Crane as he worked to keep his balance. While he had improved Po still remained unsteady on his feet while on the turtle, having trouble figuring out when was the right time to shift his weight or adjust his stance to counter-act the constant tipping motion of the moving turtle.

Crane was at home on the jade turtle, but he was slowing his strikes down a bit for Po so he could keep up. Only a tad bit mind you, barely enough for Shifu to notice, but he didn't call Crane out on that, he knew that the Crane and Po practically became like brothers after Tai Lung was defeated. They looked out for each other, like Viper and Mantis looked out for one another, as well as Tigress and Monkey.

The others were training on their own this time, some days they paired up to train, and other days they would train solo. Mantis was trying out a new move he learned from Shifu on the training dummies, Tigress training with the moving hazards that represented enemies coming at her with weapons, and Monkey training with his knife rings. Today was a rather normal day it seemed like, and Shifu liked having things stay constant, balanced, and have nothing unexpected happen.

Suddenly a loud yelp from Po echoed across the room when he slipped, once again, and landed inside the turtle, tumbling around inside it until he finally came to a halt. A few moments later Po's head come over the edge of the jade turtle, smiling sheepishly towards Shifu. "I'm ok!" Shifu couldn't help but roll his eyes and laugh softly at the Panda. Every time Po would slip and fall, or even get hurt he would always say his trademark line 'I'm ok.'

"It's alright, Po. Resume your stance and try again. You're fighting the way the jade turtle moves, do not fight it, move with it." Shifu smiled as Po's eye lit up with understanding before climbing back up on the rim, with a little help from Crane and resumed his stance, looking a bit more confident.

Before Shifu could tell them to begin the doors to the training hall suddenly bursted open as a frantic, out of breath Xhen collapsed on the ground. Shifu instantly became worried, for Xhen never entered the hall of training unless it was an emergency. His students also were aware of the fact that something was wrong and instantly stopped what they were doing, watching the goose as Shifu quickly made his way over to him.

"Xhen, my friend, what is wrong?" Shifu started, helping the goose to his feet and helping to keep him steady as Xhen struggled to regain his breath. "You've looked like you've seen a ghost!" Xhen started to try to speak, but was unable to get any words out between his gasping breathes. He stayed silent for several moments until he caught his breath, tilted his head to look at Shifu, trembling in terror.

"Master Shifu, I saw a strange creature in the gardens! It was so strange, stood about shoulder length to Po, wore strange clothes, its skin pale like a white flower, like it had never been in the sun. It was…" Xhen stopped for a moment, a memory suddenly resurfacing that caught him off guard. "It was like the creature that was in Master Oogway's stories! About these creatures that once shared the lands with us until they disappeared hundreds of years ago. What was it called? H….Hu…. Hum?" An exasperated look crossed Xhen's face as he tried to remember the name from the story Oogway told him so long ago when he was only a gosling.

Shifu frowned, his ears lying flat on his head as he tried to imagine in his mind what Xhen was talking about. He knew without a doubt Xhen would not lie as he was one of his most entrusted personnel, but his story was just odd, and made him wonder if Xhen was suffering a delayed reaction of stress from his experience in Grohm Prison. As Xhen began to try to pronounce the name of it, it did begin to remind him of the same story he heard from Oogway long ago.

The way Xhen described it was like the paintings Oogway showed to Shifu and described in his stories. However, he thought the stories were only fairy tales, something imaginary to tell the children when they were young. The name suddenly came to his mind, and the name slipped past his lips before he even knew it. "Human…?"

Xhen suddenly looked back at Shifu, smiling and looking relieved that someone else knew of the story and that he wasn't crazy. "Yes, that was it! It had to be a human, it's the only thing that comes close to what I saw. I don't know if it's a nice human though, I sort of… flew off. It looked scared though, now that I think back, and it looked like it might have been injured-"

Shifu's attention sharpened when he caught the word 'injured' come from Xhen. "Injured?!" Xhen looked a little uneasy at the tone of Shifu's voice, knowing that the deepening tone signaled that he was worried.

"Well, it had a bandage wrapped around it's head, and one side of it had dried blood on it-" Xhen was interrupted when Shifu turned to his students suddenly, all of his students were standing at attention, waiting for his orders.

"You heard Xhen, this human is afraid, injured, and in need of medical attention. Do not attack it unless it attacks you, and try to not frighten it. You could be very imposing to it, and it's already frightened as it is. You'll know it's a human when you see it, it's unmistakenable. Start out at the gardens and fan out, leave no stone unturned! Go!" Shifu barked out his orders, his students immediately taking this situation seriously and leaving the training room to start their search. Po tagging along behind them, a bit slower, but was rushing as fast as he could.

Shifu took a deep breath and turned to Xhen who has managed to pull himself together and was ready to accept his orders. "I want you to go through Oogway's personal library and find every scroll you can about humans, he may be the only one that might have the precious information that I am looking for. I'm going out to help with the search. I only pray to the gods that we find it…" He turned to leave, only pausing to pick up his staff (carved to match Oogway's staff) as he exited the training hall and made his way outside. His mind is filled with uncertainties as he started his search, worried about what this sudden appearance of the human might come to.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I do not own any other the characters besides Marie, so I don't own Shifu, much to my dismay. Oh, and I'm also doing the best I can to keep the characters in character, so far I think I've done a decent job. However if you notice I start slipping in later chapters, PLEASE call it to my attention. Thanks! Oh, and note that in the future these chapters may be redone if I look back a few months from now and deem that they suck.

**Chapter Three**

Marie didn't know how she managed to do it, but she suddenly found herself underneath the branches of the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. It sat on top of a hill like in the movie that overlooked the valley below, the villagers looking much like ants below her, barely able to make out their movements.

She sat against the tree for several long moments, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. The run seemed to go on forever for her when it probably was only a few minutes, but her body wasn't used to running for long periods of time. She was a sprinter, not a runner, not quite the right built to be an athlete.

She moans in dismay as her head starts to pound with a vengeance, the stress, coupled with the run, causing her already aching head to hurt more. She sits down at the base of the tree to clutch her head, allowing her forehead to rest against her knees as she breathed. Her body was aching more then it did before and was exhausted, even though she was out for god only knows how long earlier.

She closed her eyes for what she only thought was a moment to allow her eyes the much needed rest. When she opened them however she found that it was no longer early afternoon, but close to sunset suddenly. She jerks her head back and cringes when her stiffened neck cracks, her muscles stiff and her shoulders sore. Those signs clearly told her that she had in that odd position for maybe hours, cursing herself out loud for foolishly letting her guard down.

Marie visibly cringes when her belly cramps and rumbles loudly, wrapping her arms around her middle to stifle the growling. Great, she's hungry. What is she supposed to do for food-?! She yelps in surprise when something clocked her on her already aching head and falls on the ground in front of her.

A peach laid there on in front of her. She rolls her eyes and smiled a bit at the next thought that came to her mind. _–Somewhere, I bet Master Oogway's laughing at me.- _She picks up the peach and lightly touches and examined it, twirling it around in her hands to find anything wrong with the peach.

She is unable to stop a grimace when she finds a very obvious wormhole that causes her to drop it. Not to be discouraged she slowly gets up and starts to search the ground around the peach tree, checking out the pieces of fruit along the ground. All of them were bad, much to her dismay before she turned her attention to the branches above her head. There were no fruit on the lower branches, picked clean of any of its fruit. However on the higher branches she saw hundreds of peaches and some of them looked ripe.

Before Marie's hand even touches the tree she pulls away, a bit in concerned about offending any spirits that may be around this tree, like Master Oogway and such. She pressed her hands together and prayed out loud.

"I pray to the spirits that I hope I do not offend them for climbing this sacred tree. I promise to only take the fruit I need to survive on and not greedily consume its bounty, and to be thankful for the tree sharing its fruit. Thank you." She bowed her head and was silent for a few moments before looking up and starting her climb up the tree.

*****With Master Shifu*****

Even with years of practice Shifu couldn't keep the look of frustration from coming across his face. Hours of search and his students hadn't come up with anything, and Shifu's search also yielded no results. Where could have the human has gone no one knew, it was like it just vanished into thin air.

All of them were discussing ideas on where it might have gone, if it was actually real. Po was really frustrated that he hadn't found this… human, whatever it was, and voiced his thoughts.

"We've looked everywhere and there is no sign of it!" Po scratched the back of his head as his thoughts turned to what the other students were thinking: maybe Zeng was mistaken?

"Then we have not looked everywhere, because we have yet to find it!" Shifu growled softly, irritably pacing in front of his students, his ears flat on his head and his jaw clenched tightly. He believed Zeng, he had been in service of Master Oogway and himself for years and have never failed or mislead them.

Po sighed softly and turned to look at the others, many of them looking down at the ground in guilt, all of them feeling extremely bad that they all had disappointed Master Shifu when their search came up empty. That was not all that was empty Po realized, hearing the growling stomachs of his friends.

He noticed it was close to sunset, and that was usually when he would start to make dinner for all of them before they went to bed at night. Po nervously cleared his throat to gain Shifu's attention.

"Look, uh… It sounds like everyone is hungry, and it's getting close to dinner time. I was thinking maybe I could make a quick dinner before we resume our search for the human? It could do us all some good."

Shifu paused, his ears pushed back irritably as he considered Po's words. Searching on an empty stomach would not good for his students. Finally Shifu nodded in agreement which caused their expressions to lighten up, all but Tigress who looked like she wanted to continue the search.

"That's an excellent idea. Searching on an empty stomach wouldn't be good, you'll get sloppy overtime. And yes, Tigress, you need to stay here and eat as well." Shifu interrupted Tigress as she opened her mouth, turning his back and heading towards the doors leading out of the training hall. "While you eat I will go mediate by the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, a solution might present itself there."

As he started to leave the room he heard the shuffling footsteps of his students leaving the room behind him and heading towards the kitchen. Shifu soon found him outside, but he didn't rush for the tree, taking his time to walk up there and think about their current situation.

Why of all times would a human appear now? Master Oogway said they disappeared a long time ago for reasons unknown. Why would a human appear now? Was it simply an accident that it had suddenly appeared?

_There are no accidents. _A voice echoed in the back of his mind that caused him to stop. It was Master Oogway's voice, so fresh in his memory that he could clearly hear it, even though the turtle has passed on. He smiled, although a bit gloomily, as he resumed his walk. So maybe it was fate that intervened and brought the human there.

As he reached the peach tree he stopped at the sight that greats him, his eyes widening in surprise while his ears twitched. Before him was the human they had been searching for, examining the fruit that littered the ground around the tree for a peach that may be edible. Shifu quickly ducked into some bushes along the stone path up to the peach tree to watch the human.

This human was only slightly like the ones in the paintings Oogway had showed him, the paintings had shown dark haired humans with narrow eyes. This human had light, brownish hair and oval shaped eyes. After examining the human he came to realize that it's was a she, having similar curves to the females in the paintings.

As his eyes trailed up he noticed the bandage neatly tied around her head, and, confirming Zeng's suspicions, she was indeed injured, though the blood was dried on the bandage. He was unsure how to present himself to the girl, not wanting to startle her and cause her to flee. Sure, he could obviously catch up to her, but frightening her out of her wits was not high on his priority list. He noticed her considering on climbing the tree to reach the good fruit, but before she even touched the tree she did something that surprised him.

"I pray to the spirits that I hope I do not offend them for climbing this sacred tree. I promise to only take the fruit I need to survive on and not greedily consume its bounty, and to be thankful for the tree sharing its fruit. Thank you." Her accent was odd, but it flowed very nicely and it seemed to fit her. How she knew the tree was sacred he had no idea, but he stayed hidden and watched her carefully climb the tree, watching her disappear behind the many pink flowers.

Shifu then carefully crept out of his hiding place and made for the tree, looking up to see where she was. She didn't notice him, completely oblivious to his presence and had her back turned to him as she carefully examined the fruit, sitting down on one of the stronger branches to make herself comfortable.

He quietly climbed up into the tree, hoping to talk to her and ease her fears. He sat behind her on another branch at her head level, literally close enough that if he wished to he could reach out and touch the back of her head.

He curiously watched her for several moments as she continued to examine the fruits. Many of them were not yet ripe, so she left those alone in order to only choose the ones she planned to eat. The way she moved was quiet, as if she was afraid to break the gentle silence all around them.

Finally he decided to no longer stay silent, and got her attention with a single word. "Hello." The girl gasped loudly in surprise from hearing his greeting, whirling around to face him, literally nose to nose to each other.

*****Both PoV*****

Marie carefully scaled the tree and disappeared among the many pink flowers that covered the branches, testing each branch carefully before putting her weight on any of them. This tree had to be really old, and she wasn't sure how durable the branches were as she climbed up higher off of the ground.

She found a sturdy branch to sit comfortable on as she started to examine and touch the fruit on the branch just a little ways in front of her. She was looking for holes, bruises, and ripeness. Not many of the peaches and holes or bruises, but many of them were not ripe yet.

She moved quietly and slowly, for some reason unknown to her. She felt a stillness in the air. It was gentle, but she didn't want to disturb the peaceful atmosphere around this tree. It had to be sacred she thought to herself, it was like the tree was giving off an aura of calmness. Then, something, a voice behind her, broke the silence and caused her heart to leap into her throat.

"Hello."

Marie was unable to stop the gasp from escaping her throat as she quickly turned to face who had spoken to her. Her nose came in contact with a small, brown nose, touching tip to tip against each other. Her grey blue eyes are wide with fright as she stared into the most beautiful crystal blue eyes she has ever seen in her life.

Shifu was startled to be staring into this girl's grey-blue eyes, surprise and fright clearly showing bright as day in their depths. He hadn't meant to scare her that badly, he had only hoped to gain her attention and get some answers. Marie felt herself starting to blush as she stared, then her eyes suddenly caught something.

Big ears.

Big red, panda ears, on top of its head. She then felt the blood drain from her face when she came to a sudden realization: it was Shifu! She's unable to stop the yelp that escapes her as she moves to scramble away, but she forgot one, minor detail.

She was in a tree. Suddenly feeling nothing beneath her she started to fall, crying out in surprise and pain as her arms painfully smacked the branches as she grabbed at them and missed, plummeting towards the unforgiving ground. Her fall was suddenly stopped as something caught her around her ankle and pinned her to the tree, her back slamming into the trunk when her fall is suddenly halted, knocking the wind out of her. As she attempts to catch her breath, she swallows thickly and looks up, surprised to see Shifu had stopped her fall.

Shifu hadn't expected her to cry out, nor did he expect her to fall. He only has moments to act; jumping down to the lower branches as the girl fell, knowing that if she fell from this height and angle she could get hurt. Using the top of his staff (which is shaped into a 'u'), he suddenly lunged forward and catches the girls ankle and pins her against the tree. He briefly winces when he hears her back slam against the trunk, knowing that it must have knocked the breath out of her.

Shifu's eyes then meet the girls when she looked up at him, staring at each other before he speaks quietly to her. "Are you alright?"

Marie smiled nervously up at him, trying to get her breathing and nerves back under control. "I'm… I'm hanging in there." She then groans to herself, rolling her eyes in exasperation at the horrible pun she just made. Shifu is unable to stop the chuckle the wells up from his chest, laughing quietly that makes Marie stare at him with a wide eyed expression.

Shifu genuinely laughed, Marie thought. She had only heard a few of those during the movie, most of the laughter came from being around Po when he was training him at the Pool of Sacred Tears. Shifu's laughter then quieted as he gently lowered Marie to the ground.

Marie breathed a soft sigh of relief when she felt the ground beneath her back as Shifu lowered her down and released her ankle, sitting up as Shifu climbed back down the tree to stand beside her. He was taller then she had thought she realized, she bet if she were to stand up he'd be waist high, much to her surprise. She thought he'd at most reach the middle of her thigh.

Shifu started to carefully check for any injuries, scanning her until his eyes landed on her arm. He gently fingers a few small cuts made by the branches as well as a few bloody scrapes she obtained that would need to be cleaned. Otherwise she was not badly hurt.

Marie watched him as he examined her, wincing a little when he touches the scrapes and cuts. They stung a bit, but Shifu was gentle as he examined her, his fingers light across her skin. She was unsure about this entire situation, she had thought that maybe when Shifu got wind that she was there he might have hurt her, but…

Marie scolded herself in her mind for thinking such a thing. Shifu never used his Kung Fu to purposely hurt someone, only to defend himself and his students. Her mind had made her irrationally fear them when they could have very well helped her from the beginning.

Shifu then placed his hands gently against her head and eyed the bandage covering her wound. He wasn't sure how bad the wound was behind the bandage and was afraid to remove it. He wanted to have medical supplies nearby if it was bad so he could properly take care of her.

"How did you get that?" Shifu gestured towards the bandage before turning his gaze back to her. Marie froze at the question, completely caught off guard. _–What should I tell him?!- _She couldn't tell him the truth, especially about the car, would he even believe her? She swallowed a bit, nervously wringing her hands together in her lap.

"I got it when I took a spill down a steep hill when I was on my way home. I think I might have cracked my head against a tree, or a rock. I blacked out, and, uhm… I woke up here." Marie cringed a bit when Shifu merely stared at her.

Shifu's eyes narrowed as he watched her. Either she was a nervous individual in general or she wasn't telling the whole truth. He decided for now he'd give her the benefit of the doubt as he turned and started to move towards the path leading away from the peach tree. "Come, I'll take a look at your wound at the Jade Palace."

Marie stared after him for a few moments before scrambling to her feet to follow Shifu, keeping a foot behind him at all times as they walked. She really wished she had a place to sit down and think about this whole situation, everything was so… surreal to her. She wasn't sure at this point if this was all real, or a dream her mind cooked up while she was unconscious.

Shifu turned to glance over his shoulder to check on the girl, noticing her gazing off to the side with a tortured look on her face. A soft frown crosses his lips when he see's this, turning his gaze back to the path they are taking. "…Your name?"

Marie is jerked out of her thoughts when she hears Shifu's question, looking at him as he turned to glance at her over his shoulder once again. "It's… Marie, sir." She watches in fascination when his ears twitched in response to her answer.

"Well then, Marie, you may address me as Master Shifu. Now, after I examine your wound I'll make sure you get something to eat." Shifu smiled slightly at her, trying to ease her uncertainties. The girl was scared that much he could tell and he certainly didn't want to make her uneasy. They would be able to talk more about her current predicament after she has been treated, got something to eat, and get some rest.

Marie smiled gratefully when he mentions food. She wasn't able to get a peach to eat when she was interrupted. She suddenly realized the were walking up the steps to a side entrance of the Jade Palace, surprised that she zoned out enough to not see how close they were getting.

Shifu stopped at the door and opened it, stepping off to the side and gesturing her to enter first. Marie smiled, muttering a soft 'thank you' as she entered the building. She moved off to the side as Shifu entered and closed the door behind them, starting to walk down the hall.

Marie quickly followed him, not wanting to be left behind and most likely get lost. She was able to get glimpses of paintings on the walls as they passed, most of the paintings of nature scenes.

"Zeng!" Shifu hollered, causing Marie to jump in surprise behind him, clutching at her heart as she stared at him. A voice coming from on of the doors further shouted back, but Marie was unable to pick up what they were saying. Zeng darted out of the room not even a moment later, turning to look over at Shifu.

"Yes, Master Shifu?" Zeng quickly walked towards them, but he paused when he saw Marie standing behind Shifu. "Ah, you found it! That's great! I have yet to find the scrolls you've asked for, though…" Zeng started to babble about the places he had searched in Oogway's library while Marie was staring at him.

_-It?- _Marie looked incredulously at Zeng before turning her gaze down to her chest. _–I know I'm not the busty type of girl, but calling me an 'it?'-_

"Zeng? Zeng!" Shifu barked in order to gain Zeng's attention, Zeng squawking in embarrassment when he realized he started to ramble. "It's fine, I'll search for the scrolls later. Right now I want you to do me a favor and tell my students to not worry about rushing dinner since I've found her. Tell Po to make sure to make a little extra food for our guest, we'll be joining them after I take a look at her wound."

Shifu gestured for Marie to follow him as they moved down another hallway, Zeng yelled 'Yes Master Shifu!' before turning down another hallway to go deliver the message. Marie continued to follow behind Shifu, her mind still reeling at what she had been called.

"It…?" Marie mumbled underneath her breath, staring at the ground as she frowned to herself. Shifu turned to look behind him, his ears picking up her voice even though she was being as quiet as she could.

"Take no offense to what Zeng said. He didn't know if you were male, or female. Humans have all but gone extinct hundreds of years ago, and the few people who know about humans believe your kind was nothing but a fairy tale." Shifu watched her eyes widen in surprise at the new found information before he turned his attention back in front of him.

Marie's mind was reeling at the new information she has just heard. Humans were once known in this world? She just couldn't believe it; she thought humans were never a part of this world. Why did they disappear if they did once exist? How could the humans just die out like that?! And why was she here? She looked up and watched Shifu's back as they continued to wind their way down other hallways, her mind in turmoil.

Should she tell him? That in her world, this world and its people was, in a sense, a fairy tale too? Would he believe her if she said she was from another world? No, it wouldn't be a good idea. Don't talk about it unless it's brought up by Shifu.

Shifu stopped at a closed door and pushed it open, once again holding the door open for Marie to enter first. She smiled shyly at him, thanking him as she moved past him to enter, looking around the room as Shifu closed the door behind him and moved towards a cabinet.

Marie knew immediately that this was a small hospital. There were a few tables for the patients to sit or lie on and several beds for the overnight stays. Shifu started to pull out bandages and ointments to clean out her wound, gesturing for her to sit as he pulled up a stool for him to sit on by one of the tables.

Marie quickly did what she was told and sat down on the table, Shifu setting the medical supplies as he reached for her bandages, carefully starting to undo them.

"You did rather well bandaging your wound." Shifu complimented her as he removed the last bit of the bandage and setting it off to the side. Marie froze, allowing Shifu to tilt her head to examine the wound. The wound was rather bad, a long, jagged cut that disappeared into her hair, dry blood matting her hair and staining her skin.

"I, uh…. Didn't bandage it, Master Shifu." Marie started, nervously wringing her hands in her lap as Shifu started to clean the skin around the wound as well as her hair that was caked with dried blood with a damp cloth. "I just woke up like this. I'm not even sure how I got here. This place is nothing like where I come from." She wasn't exactly lying about the last part; this world was nothing like where she lived in America.

Shifu frowned at what Marie said as he started to lightly dab ointment on her wound after he was done cleaning the dried blood off. So she didn't treat herself. Someone else had found her while she was unconscious and took care of her? Why not treat her and bring her to the Jade Palace? Or just let her lie there? If someone from the village had found her they wouldn't have known what she was, and most likely have been too frightened to go near her.

He started to wrap fresh bandages around her head as he thought to himself, his hands moving automatically, having bandaged many wounds to where it became almost second nature to him. If someone in the village did find her he would have thought they would have reported their findings to him and have him take care of it. And something else she said bothered him.

Someone must have brought her here from wherever she was, and just abandoned her in a new place that she had never been to before. Why would they do that? His thoughts were interrupted by a low, rumbling growl. Shifu looked up at the Marie's face as she blushed and wrapped her arms around her middle.

She smiled sheepishly at Shifu, incredibly embarrassed. "Uhm, sorry. Couldn't stop it."

Shifu chuckled softly as he got off the stool and headed for the door. "It's quite alright, Marie. Come, I'll take you to the kitchen so you can eat."

Marie immediately hopped off of the table and followed him out the door and down the series of hallways once again. _–I'll have to be careful so that I don't get lost if I'm on my own.- _Marie thought to herself as she watched Shifu as they walked. His ears were rather interesting to watch, twitching or moving slightly when his ears picked up any sounds.

His ears also moved to match his facial expressions she had noticed when they were in the hospital room. When he frowned his ears would lie back on his head and when he looked confused his ears tilted back a bit. It was rather cute, and she had to resist touching his ears several times when the urge came on.

She had always thought Shifu was the coolest; his Kung Fu skills were awesome, his attitude and voice was great, and his tail and ears were cute! Marie liked his ears the best though. She was telling Trisha the truth when she said it was his ears that caught her attention and made her like him in the first place.

Thinking of Trisha brought up a serious matter that she hadn't thought of. How would her family and friends react when someone finds her car in the ditch but not find her? Would they think someone ran her off the road and kidnapped her? Knowing her family they would be raising hell and hiring investigators to try to find her. But… they won't find her. Hopefully she somehow, someway, got back home, but…

For all she knew, she may never see home again.

"We're here." Shifu announced, causing Marie to tear away from her thoughts as she stopped and blinked at Shifu. She had zoned out again and got lost in her thoughts. She was surprised that she somehow managed to keep following Shifu. Marie heard the sound of talking and the clanking of a pot, like someone was stirring the contents.

Shifu pushed open the doors and stepped inside, Marie cautiously following behind him. "Good evening, students."

All at once everyone, The Five and Po turned to look at Shifu, but their eyes moved immediately on Marie not even moments later. Marie nervously shifted underneath their gaze, especially Tigress who had her eyes narrowed as she looked at Marie. Shifu cleared his throat to regain his student's attention.

"This young lady here is Marie. Marie, this is the Furious Five: Master Tigress, Master Mantis, Master Viper, Master Crane, and Master Monkey." He gestured to each of them as he introduced Marie to them before turning to Po, who was attending to dinner at the stove. "And this is Po, the Dragon Warrior."

"Hey Marie, how are you doing? I hope you're hungry; I'm making my special noodle soup tonight!" Po grinned as he greeted Marie, adding a few sliced vegetables to his soup and a few spices.

Marie was unable to stop the relived smile from coming across her face. Po was still Po, a big, loveable panda who was trying to make her feel comfortable. Funny thing was his voice was exactly like Jack Black's voice.

"I'm starving, actually!" Marie smiled enthusiastically at the thought of trying Po's famous soup, it smelled delicious.

She turned when she heard the scrapping of a chair, seeing Monkey pull another chair up to the table that by the wall earlier with his tail, smiling at Marie before gesturing to the chair that was now beside him. "Here, have a seat."

Marie smiled at Monkey as she approached the chair and carefully sat down. "Thank you very much." She had to keep herself from laughing out loud: his voice was exactly like Jackie Chan's voice. Every time Monkey talked she won't be able to get Jackie Chan's face out of her head.

Shifu took his place at the head of the table not even a foot away from Marie, rubbing the side of his face as he sank into his thoughts. He half-way listened when Monkey started to chat with Marie about perhaps taking her on a tour through the Jade Palace tomorrow after their training.

"Before she can do that, Monkey, she should see the palace tailors! I doubt she has any change of clothes, do you?" Viper questioned Marie from her position across from her, and Marie nervously shook her head no. "See? Before we start training tomorrow I could take her to the tailors. She should be done by the time we're done with our training, and then we can take her on a tour! How does that sound, Marie?"

Marie shifted nervously underneath Viper's gaze, wringing her hands tightly in her lap. "That sounds good… But, how am I going to pay the tailors? I don't-"

"Don't worry about it." Shifu interrupted, Marie's gaze turning to him almost instantly when she hears his voice. "They get paid weekly for their duties here in the palace. However I suppose for tonight you'll need something to sleep in… Tigress? After dinner would you be so kind as to lend her some nightclothes? You two look about the same size."

Marie flinches when Tigress turns and seems to glare at her, causing her to shrink into her chair a bit, desperately wishing that she could disappear.

"…Yes Master Shifu." Tigress answered coolly before turning away from Marie.

Marie breathed a soft sigh of relief, nearly jumping out of her skin when Monkey patted her on her shoulder, smiling comfortingly at her. She smiled at Monkey before turning her attention back at the table, nervously wringing her hands. She had figured Tigress probably wouldn't like her right off the bat, but she was hoping that if she was stuck here Tigress and she may grow to be friends one day.

"Order up! Hope you like it, Marie." Po's voice pulled her from her thoughts as she looked up, watching Po places bowls in front of everyone at the table. Po took his seat at the other end of the table and eagerly started in on his soup. Everyone else also started to eat as Marie picked up her spoon and watched all of them for a few moments.

Compliments were sent Po's way about how excellent the soup was from The Five, including Tigress who seemed to have opened up to Po since the defeat of Tai Lung. Finally Marie took a spoonful into her mouth, her tongue hit instantly with pleasant flavors that she has never tasted before as she swallowed. "Wow, this is great! I've never tasted soup this good before!"

Po couldn't help but grin as Marie complimented him, watching her eagerly take another spoonful into her mouth. "Well I'm glad you like it! You should sample some of my other cooking; I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"I would love to!" Marie gushed, eating her soup eagerly. If Po's cooking was as good as his soup she'd definitely eat his food.

The next half hour flew by pretty fast to Marie. She had a pretty good time chatting with The Five (besides Tigress, who only spoke a word or two to Marie) and Po. Master Shifu kept pretty quiet much to her dismay; she had hoped to get to know him more. He did look rather tired, so she thought it would be best to leave him be. Dinner ended all too soon and it was time to go to bed.

All of them started to shuffle out of the kitchen, all of them starting to head to their rooms while Shifu, Tigress, and Marie stayed behind. Marie was once again extremely nervous as her gaze shifted between the two of them.

"Marie, your room is next to Tigresses room. I have no idea how long you will be with us, so I felt it was best to put you into a more comfortable room during your stay. Tomorrow you'll be busy for several hours, so try to get as much rest as you can tonight. Goodnight Tigress, Marie." Shifu nodded to the two before turning and heading to where Marie could only assume his room was.

Marie turned to look at Tigress, cringing underneath Tigresses gaze. After Tigress watched her for a little longer she turned to walk away, gesturing for Marie to follow her. Marie did what she was told without question, following Tigress but keeping her distance.

Finally after a few minutes of walking they entered a hallway Marie was familiar with instantly. This is where The Five and Po sleep. There were candles light in the rooms, the light shining through the thin paper walls. As they passed the candles slowly started to go out, all of them winding down for the night.

Marie stopped immediately when Tigress got to her room and opened the door and stepped inside. Tigress turned to see if Marie had tried to follow her in, but Marie stood patiently outside her door. Tigress was satisfied that Marie knew her boundaries as she turned to her dresser and opened its drawers.

Marie watched from the doorway as Tigress looked through her drawers for something for her to wear for the night for a few seconds before starting to nervously look around the hallway. She didn't want to anger or piss Tigress off more then she was by staring into her room. Marie was a bit of a pacifist at heart, she never liked to tread on people's toes or watch them fight.

She always would try the peace route first before she ever resorted to violence. Marie grunted in surprise when something hit her face, managing to catch a wade of clothes before it hit the ground. She looked up at Tigress and smiled nervously at her. "T-Thank you, Master Tigress."

Tigress face seemed to lighten up. Only a tad, though. "You're welcome. Good night." Without another word Tigress closed the door, leaving Marie standing out in the hallway. Marie stood there for several moments before she approached the door leading to her room, pushing it open and stepping inside.

Someone had lit a candle for her so she wouldn't stumble in the dark. In the dim candle light she could see how cozy the room was. There was a nice, decent sized bed against the wall with light lavender sheets and what looked like to be a nice comfy pillow at the top of the bed. It was low to the floor, the bottom of the bed not even an inch or two from the floor. She figured it must be common for beds to be this way.

Marie turned to look towards where the candle was and was surprised to see it on a low desk. A lush looking pillow served as the seat to a pretty bamboo desk, it would be a nice place to write or read.

In the silence of the room her thoughts started to turn to her current predicament. She felt weary, she had one hell of a day and her mind wouldn't stop whirling around. Marie started to undress, folding her dirty clothes on top of the dresser in the room before pulling on what looked like a light kimono used for bed. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to tie it before she blew out the candle and collapsed in bed.

She groaned in relief as her weight sank into the soft mattress, pulling the sheets over her body as she snuggled her face into her pillow. Even though her body was mind and weary she couldn't fall asleep, staring blankly at the wall as her mind tiredly worked to figure out and adapt to her situation.

Marie was in an imaginary world that wasn't supposed to exist, where she met Shifu, The Five, and Po. Part of her thought she was crazy, a part of her told her she was perfectly sane. She didn't know how long she may be here, but… In a way, she was glad she was.

But it wasn't for the reasons she first thought of. She thought she was glad to be here because she could meet Shifu and the others, but… What was odd was that she felt more at home here then she ever did where she lived. Like the missing piece she had always felt at home was suddenly filled when she got here.

Marie finally stuffed her head under her pillow and groaned softly. She had to push these thoughts out of her head; she had to get some sleep. She focused on her breathing: in, out, in, out. In with the good and out with the bad. This technique she used time to time to help herself get to sleep started to work, her body started to slowly sink into a lulled state and the thoughts that troubled her started to dwindle away as her eyes slipped closed.

As she started to drift off she thought she saw a familiar white light forming in her room, but as quick as it came it was gone in a flash. Figuring it to be her eyes tricking her she thought nothing of it as she sank further into sleep.

Another A/N: Not sure how well this turned out. It's ok, but not great in my opinion. I hope as I continue to write I get better. The next update may or may not be slower, I need to think more about the plot and figure out where I go from here. So, I hope I don't disappoint too many people with this chapter. Until the next update, see!


End file.
